This book tells the story of Alexander Hale and Raphaella
Phillips. Hale, a recently divorced man, takes a walk down his
street, when he sees Phillips, a beautiful woman, crying on the
steps. We later learn that the woman's name is Raphaella Phillips,
and that she is married to an eighty year-old man, who is very
sick. Hale falls in love with Philliphs, who is already married.
Raphaella is young, while her husband is old and bedridden.
Raphaella does not want to leave her husband, but she wishes not to
stay closed away from the world with nothing to live for. She has
no children, and feels like the house doesn't belong to her. In the
end, Phillip's husband dies and Raphaella and Alexander are
together.